


Legacy

by CanOnlyImagine



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: F/M, Family Issues, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:15:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23538214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanOnlyImagine/pseuds/CanOnlyImagine
Summary: Your commitment to your career in Starfleet and relationship with your captain is questioned while on Earth at Starfleet Headquarters.
Relationships: Christopher Pike/Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 31





	Legacy

Earth was visible from the observation deck and many crew members were exchanging childhood stories while waiting to beam down for leave. You smiled at familiar faces as you began your journey to the transporter room for your scheduled departure. While Captain Pike and a handful of the senior officers had obligations on Earth, the majority of the crew would simply be enjoying the time at home. Starfleet had called many of it's key players home to establish the best plan of action regarding two recently discovered planets. There was a hope that the end result would be inclusion in the Federation and it seemed promising. Engineering would be reporting briefly to Command about successful upgrades to the warp drive and you'd been asked to speak on those upgrades. You were happy to share any information but mostly looked forward to the time spent visiting your mother. It had been months since you'd last spoken and longer still since you'd seen her. 

Assignment to the U.S.S. Enterprise was an honor and you were proud to call it home. Your family had a long history of serving in Starfleet and your enlistment had been decided for you long before you knew what that meant. It would be convenient to tell the story of a girl who grew up dreaming of joining Starfleet but the reality was that of a father who had risen through the ranks to that of admiral who was uninterested in entertaining any other profession for his only child. It wasn't that he was cruel. Your father had never been anything but determined that you would uphold the family legacy. Your mother was supportive and attempted to intervene by advocating for you to your father. He did not waiver. As a child, you had been eager to please but as a teenager, it had done irreparable damage to your relationship with him. You only consented to leaving for the academy in attempt to put distance between you and your father's expectations. Fortunately, you flourished at the academy. With you gone, your mother had left your father to his service to Starfleet and began pursuing her own future separate from him. Whatever had brought them together in the first place had been long gone before you were old enough to remember. There were no feelings of animosity from either of them. Your mother was free to live as she chose and your father remained fervently committed to Starfleet. 

Hopeful that you would be able to avoid the admiral, you entered the transport room to instantly catch the eye of Captain Pike. You nodded your head out of respect and that earned you a raised brow. You hadn't expected him to be a part of your group beaming to the surface but it made sense. Everyone with an itinerary first and then the rest of the crew. The captain held your gaze for a moment more before Number One said something that drew his attention away. Your latest argument played over again in your mind and made you straighten your uniform to calm yourself. If you could even call it that. He challenged you and you sputtered in response before snapping back. Apparently, Captain Christopher Pike had taken up the hobby of infuriating you to no end. If you were honest, you enjoyed his challenges in retrospect. They'd always pushed you to look closer and do better. It was large part of the reason you were presenting today. It wasn't the captain's fault that you spent the rest of your shift flushed and hopeful that he had not picked up on the fact that you could not stop staring at him. Lt. Commander Sullivan had been sure to point out that the captain had spent an awful lot of time in Engineering recently. He'd been thoroughly amused when you'd turned red and attempted to throw your PADD at him. In fact, you could practically feel Sullivan suppressing laughter when you moved to stand next to him on the transporter pad. To top it off, you'd be spending the morning with him and were sure that it would come up.

Thankfully, as soon as you arrived on the surface, the captain and his officers were pulled into their own meetings. Sullivan made a comment or two about the captain but once you arrived to your own destination, he was too focused on the presentation to continue to tease you. The remainder of the morning was uneventful and you were pleased with the conversation that had transpired among the other engineering crew members in attendance. It felt good to be among like minded officers and all focused on advancing their capabilities for the benefit of all. Sullivan had already left to begin travel home and you were about to do so yourself. Caught up in the excitement of seeing your mother, you were quick to pack up your materials and rush into the halls of Starfleet Headquarters. If you had been paying attention, you'd have noticed a figure approaching you.

"I would have expected you to have been assigned to run Engineering aboard a starship by now." The sound of your father's voice instantly straightening your spine and had you standing at attention. You'd known this was a possibility but did not expect your own reaction. They did say old habits die hard.

"I am learning a great deal from Lt. Commander Sullivan aboard the Enterprise." You attempted to sound indifferent but could hear the defensiveness in your tone. A member of Starfleet and crew on one of the most reputable ships in the fleet, and still it was not enough. The admiral circled around where you stood at attention with a raised brow.

"I suppose you would consider that an accomplishment." His hand reaching out to straighten your color and sighing when you flinched. "You have always lacked vision when it comes to your future in Starfleet."

You felt your face flush in anger and you would have argued had you not noticed Captain Pike approaching with Number One from your left. The captain's eyes connected with yours before he motioned for Number One to go on without him. You snapped your mouth shut as to not involve the captain in your argument. Captain Pike appeared to notice that something was amiss between the two of you and you saw a question in his eyes. The 'Do you need me?' was plain in his expression and you dismissed it with a slight shake of your head. The captain then took the opportunity to look at the admiral. Recognition lit in his eyes.

"Admiral Y/L/N." Captain Pike reached out his hand which your father reciprocated. "I have to say it is an honor to have someone as bright as Y/N serving in Engineering aboard the Enterprise. She's been invaluable. You must be proud."

The admiral took in Captain Pike and your reaction to him. You saw anger flash on his face before pulled his hand free from the captain. Not knowing what he saw there, your eyes widened when he was in front of you in a flash. Captain Pike stopped in confusion and watched you both in an attempt to understand what was happening.

"Is this why you are not pursuing advancement?" Something akin to a snarl accompanied his words. You had never heard your father's voice be anything but dismissive. The confusion must of shown on your face because he elaborated much to your horror. "Sabotaging everything for the attention of a captain?"

You choked on your own response being unable to verbalize your denial with the captain standing with an alarmed expression on his face. How could he think you were only on board the Enterprise because of Captain Pike? Attraction was there but it had never influenced your career. You saw the captain begin to protest but you held up a hand to stop him. You took a deep breath to steady yourself.

"If you think that is the only reason, you do not know me at all." Your voice quivered and your father let out a humorless laugh.

"Your response tells me all I need to know." Your father's eyes narrowed. "Do you think you are the only one to be sidelined by the wandering eyes of a captain?"

"That's enough, Admiral Y/L/N." The admiral's eyes snapped to Captain Pike. You thought perhaps your father had intentions to continue to berate you but thought better of it as he took in your captain's expression. "The meeting is scheduled to start, I'd hate for you to be late."

Your father's face had more feeling in it than you had ever had the opportunity to see before. He was clearly furious at being cut off by the captain but thought better of arguing with him while other members of Starfleet Command walked past in route to that same meeting. In what you could only imagine was the closest to a fit of rage you father had ever let be seen in public, he stormed off with the captain trailing behind him. Captain Pike glanced back at you with a stiff nod before continuing on.

You leaned against the wall and attempted to settle your nerves. You moved away from the busy hallway and into a deserted outdoor lounge. Before you'd even truly taken a breath, Captain Pike reappeared at your side. Close enough you could feel the heat radiating off his skin but not enough to touch. You looked up and saw that he was wholly focused on the crowd passing by. You bit back tears that threatened to fall and turned to watch as well. How could you ever explain what just happened? Your father had essentially accused you of being a whore trying to trap a captain for yourself. Progressive as Starfleet was, apparently your father had missed those lessons. That is when you felt the captain's hand slowly entwine with yours. 

If it had stopped there, you would have wrote it off as a comforting gesture following a rather brutal encounter with your father. But then it didn't stop at just your hand, soon the length of your arms were touching and then you found yourself being pulled into his side with his arm holding you to him. You curled into him. You could feel his heart beat against your cheek and found that while his face appeared passive, he was clearly feeling differently. You couldn't see his face but you knew he was still watching the crowd. You tried not to read into it. You'd already been accused of as much even if it was by someone who you hadn't seen in almost a decade.

"Captain, I-" Your voiced was strained with all of the unshed tears. You pulled away from him, not wanting to shy away from your explanation and eventual apology you were about to give.

"I do not know what I just walked in on," he breathed in slowly. "However, I can assure you that I have never questioned your abilities or passion for your career in Starfleet."

"Thank you, sir. I-" 

"I should also add, that you father's reaction may have been my fault." You glanced up to see his mouth twisted in a humorless smile. Before you could disagree, he continued. "I should have not pursued you as I have been. Your father is not wrong in the fact that captain's have a responsibility to facilitate growth in their crew not hinder it."

"Captain Pike, all you have ever done is push me to do better. I wouldn't have achieved all that I have without you challenging me to do better. And-" He held your gaze and his smile turned almost sad. Suddenly, all of the conversations the two of you had when you thought he as simply pushing you to do better and the teasing from Sullivan flooded your mind. He'd been pursuing you? The entire time you'd been worried he would be uncomfortable with your attraction for him and he'd been intentionally spending time with you. "-Oh."

"You did not deserve what he said but I did. I apologize for what that has led to." Captain Pike straightened and looked away from you. He looked as if he was going to walk away and with every ounce of courage you had, you reached for his hand to pull him back.

"I spent every day hoping you would come to engineering while also dreading it." You sounded more sure then you thought you would. He was still facing away from you but he'd stopped moving. You took a deep breath before you continued "Because you challenged me to be better. Because you infuriated me by constantly pushing. Because I wanted you there. Because I didn't know what to do once you were. Because I had no idea how I was supposed to hide what I was feeling knowing you couldn't possibly feel the same about me."

He did not respond but did not pull away either. It felt as if the room was frozen and time had stopped. You just confessed an awful lot to someone who had only said the pursued you. What if he had meant something different?  
The anxiety you were experiencing began to fade when he stepped forward and pressed his mouth against your forehead. Your hands moved to capture the fabric on his sleeves. In the next moment his hand was on your jaw and tilting your face toward his. Everything was so painfully slow and when his lips touched yours it seemed as if the room may have begun to burn. Soft at first until they were firmly planted against yours. A low groan came from deep in his chest and quickly your arms were around his neck crashing him down to you. He was quick in his response and hauled you up against him with both arms locked behind your back. The sound of conversation from the hall slowly became louder and it was enough for both of you to pull away. You were still at Starfleet Headquarters and you face flushed for what had to have been the hundredth time. You looked up into the face of the captain and saw a wide smile.

"I love it when you do that." You smacked his arm and captured it as you went to pull it back. He lifted it and placed a firm kiss on your knuckles while watching you. Surely, at some point looks from this man would not send heat racing to your face. Though you secretly hoped that it would never stop.

"Captain, maybe it's time we left head quarters." After all, kissing the man you father had just accused you of whoring around with right in the middle of Starfleet Headquarters was probably not the best choice. It was inviting unwanted speculation even if there had been no real cause for it until your father provoked it. The captain released your hand and you moved to retrieve your discarded belongings.

"Wait." You hesitated at the tone and waited to be reminded of professional boundaries. When you made eye contact with him again, you realized that was not the intention. "I think it is alright for you to call me Christopher, Y/N."

"Well, Christopher," the name you'd imagined using for months rolling off your tongue. "What now?"

"Whatever you want, Y/N." He smiled as he walked in step with you out of headquarters. He laughed when you gave him a pointed look. "Whatever we want.

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently, I will be spending this pandemic writing Captain Pike imagines. Whatever makes you happy, right? I am not an expert on Star Trek but I spent a lot of time looking things up today. If something seems out of place, I tried. I loved Discovery and I love writing about Captain Pike. I am writing these in hopes it will pull me out of my two year long writing slump. Also, haven't posted anything for someone else to read in over five years. So excuse the dust, I'm a work in progress. Any feedback is appreciated. :)


End file.
